Aarti
One of the easiest methods to keep your weight down, your joints healthy, and your life span up is by regular exercise. Experts believe that incorporating regular walking into your routine is an excellent way to boost your physical and emotional well-being.
According to fitness expert Denise Austin, “walking has always been my main source of cardio,” and “except for when I was pregnant, I’ve been the same weight my entire life!”According to Melina B. Jampolis, M.D., author of The Doctor on Demand Diet, the secret is to strut for at least 30 minutes per day. And whether you opt to lace up your shoes and walk to work, stroll with a friend, or join a hiking club, studies show that walking has numerous health benefits, including lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of chronic diseases, improving mental and cardiovascular health, and increasing happiness.
Benefits of walking
1. Improve your mood
Dr. Jampolis recommends going for a stroll as an effective, calorie-free alternative to unwinding with a glass of wine or a square (or three) of dark chocolate. Ten minutes of walking has been shown to improve mood significantly. Recent studies have also shown that going for a walk during the COVID-19 pandemic can boost your mood. Furthermore, a stroll through some lush vegetation may have a multiplier impact.
2. Burn calories and maintain a healthy weight
“As you continue to walk, you may notice your trousers beginning to fit more loosely around your midsection, even if the number on the scale isn’t moving much,” adds Dr Jampolis. Walking regularly has been shown to lower body fat, which in turn improves the body’s sensitivity to the hormone insulin.
Want to increase your metabolic rate? If you want to become in better shape by walking outside, according to Austin, you should incorporate hills in your route planning, switch up your walking pace, and try to best your time from previous days. She also suggests setting a daily step goal of 10,000 as an additional incentive.
3. Improve heart health
Among the many benefits of walking for heart health is a reduction in blood pressure. A decrease of.45 points in systolic blood pressure has been linked to an increase in daily step count of 1,000. If you walk 10,000 steps per day, you can expect a 2.25-point drop in your systolic blood pressure compared to if you walked only 5,000.
4. Reduce your risk of chronic diseases
Walking lowers the risk of several different chronic diseases, according to a study published in Nature Medicine in 2022. The risk of chronic diseases like obesity, sleep apnea, GERD, major depressive disorder, diabetes, and hypertension were all found to be lowered by walking 8,200 steps per day. The same study also indicated that the benefits of walking increased with increased step count for nearly all health conditions.
5. Reduce your stress
Health Promotion Perspectives published a study in 2018 showing that even just 10 minutes of walking can improve mood, mental clarity, and inventiveness. In addition, studies have shown that going for a walk in the fresh air might have a significant impact. A study published in Molecular Psychiatry in 2022 discovered that going on a stroll in the woods for 60 minutes can reduce activity in the parts of the brain responsible for processing stress. In contrast, brain activity in those areas did not change at all following a 60-minute stroll around a city. Get out and feel the grass!
6. Improve your sleep
Regular exercise can help you get a better night’s rest. This is because exercise increases levels of melatonin, the body’s natural sleep hormone. An article published in Sleep in 2019 indicated that postmenopausal women who engage in low to moderate levels of physical activity have better sleep quality than their sedentary counterparts. Another recent study indicated that regular walking improved both the quality and duration of sleep for healthy adults. Pain and tension, both of which can disrupt sleep, are two of the many benefits of walking.
7. Boost your brainpower
Studies in this area are expanding rapidly. Brain scans in one study showed that those who walked briskly for an hour three times a week made better decisions than those who had attended educational seminars. Physical activity, such as walking, has been shown to enhance cognitive function in women of advanced age. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which may contribute to these benefits, say experts. Getting your body moving has a positive effect on your mental performance.
8. Alleviate joint pain
As surprising as it may sound, walking can assist increase your mobility and range of motion by increasing blood flow to tight areas and strengthening the muscles around your joints.
Walking for as little as 10 minutes a day, or an hour a week, has been shown to reduce the risk of disability and alleviate arthritic pain in people of retirement age. In 2019, researchers tracked 1,564 people aged 49 and up who were experiencing discomfort in their lower limb joints for the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Four years later, those who walked an hour a week were more likely to still be in good health. Walking was shown to be a safe, affordable, and convenient physical exercise for people with arthritis of all fitness levels, according to a separate investigation.
9. Delay the onset of varicose veins
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“The venous system includes a circulatory section known as ‘the second heart,’ which is formed by muscles, veins, and valves located in our calf and foot,” he says. Walking helps build this secondary circulatory system by maintaining and enhancing leg muscle, which in turn increases healthy blood flow and returns more blood to the heart and lungs.
10. Stimulate your digestive system
If you rely on coffee to keep your digestive system working smoothly during the day, you may soon find that a morning stroll is more effective. Tara Alaichamy, D.P.T., manager of rehabilitation services at Cancer Treatment Centres of America, adds that regular walking can considerably improve bowel motions. Because it uses core and abdominal muscles and encourages movement in our GI system, walking is one of the first things a patient is required to do after abdominal surgery. In other words, once you get going, so do your bowels.
